Major League Baseball has been quick to adopt Apple's new Passbook digital ticketing system, and the league has been "floored" with the initial results.

Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB Advance Media, told MarketWatch that in an initial run of four teams for the final two weeks of the season, 1,500 e-ticket buyers chose to have their tickets delivered via Apple's Passbook for iOS 6. In all, 12 percent of e-ticket buyers opted to receive their tickets in Passbook.

"That adoption rate really floored us ? there is no question our fans want digital tickets," Bowman said. "Fans can use the tickets, forward them to a friend, resell them, or even donate them to charity ? and they never get lost or left at home."

MLB is one of the biggest partners with Apple for its new Passbook initiative. The use of Passbook for baseball tickets was demonstrated onstage by Apple iOS chief Scott Forstall last month.

In his demo at the iPhone 5 unveiling, Forstall accessed a ticket for a San Francisco Giants baseball game he had recently attended. In the onstage example, Forstall deleted the used ticket, which prompted the Passbook application to display the digital ticket running through a virtual paper shredder.

Ticketing support for select MLB teams has been available since the launch of iOS 6 last month through the free MLB.com At Bat application. Support is available through MLB Advanced Media for four clubs across the U.S.: the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals.

MLB tickets through Passbook are driven by open technology from Tickets.com. The digital tickets in iOS 6 include customary information such as the game date, opponent, time, section, row and seat.

Fans can receive and store digital tickets after completing a purchase via the official MLB.com website or official club websites. Digital tickets with Passbook are also displayed on the iPhone's lock screen as a day-of-game reminder.

Comments

I knew this was going to happen from the beginning. All the initial moans about "what is passbook good for?" And "no one supports it" will within a year's time be silenced as information like this continues to come out and Passbook support becomes ubiquitous. It will be less a question of who supports it and more a question of who doesn't. At that time all those who asked why Apple released an "unfinished product" will be silenced. In much the same way that iDevices infiltrated the workplace, iOS users will be the ones who demand passbook support from the vendors.

All I'm going to say (and I know I've said it before, sorry), is that I just don't "get" Passbook at all. I'm a smarter than average person and I work in tech and while I have read the explanations and do know how it's supposed to work more or less, I still don't "get it" in a visceral way. If I don't "get it" (to the point of actually being able to effectively use it in my daily life), then tens of thousands of others don't either.

- It's counter-intuitive to have an app that is useless until linked with another app, that you have to find first, install, and then link.

- It's just plain stupid to expect me to waste screens of real-estate to install apps just so they will show up in the passbook app.

- Even if I did this, it's not clear at all what happens next or how to "link" the two since the "linking" is invisible and behind the scenes.

- The kind of fools who salivate over a ten cent bargain are not generally the same people who buy expensive high-end smart phones.

Not everyone is comfortable with hundreds of apps on their phone. Many people, like me, only install a few things that they actually need/want. I'm not going to install an app for every bargain bin in my neighbourhood just so I *might* get a crappy coupon one day.

Until the day that some actual human in an actual store offers me a coupon that can be saved on my iPhone and actually tells me how to do it or does it for me, Passbook just isn't going to happen for me. I suspect that the vast majority of iPhone users are in the same boat.

It's just one of those useless new apps that sits on your device that you know *might* be useful someday but for the time being is just taking up space. So you put it in that folder that everyone has on the last screen that contains all the apps that Apple's marketing department forces on us, that you can't get rid of but that don't actually do anything.

Not everyone is comfortable with hundreds of apps on their phone. Many people, like me, only install a few things that they actually need/want. I'm not going to install an app for every bargain bin in my neighbourhood just so I *might* get a crappy coupon one day.

Agree, but remember the option to "add to passbook" will be available via web, email, text, etc. So I don't think the app will need to be installed on your phone for that. I think.

All I'm going to say (and I know I've said it before, sorry), is that I just don't "get" Passbook at all. I'm a smarter than average person and I work in tech and while I have read the explanations and do know how it's supposed to work more or less, I still don't "get it" in a visceral way. If I don't "get it" (to the point of actually being able to effectively use it in my daily life), then tens of thousands of others don't either.

- It's counter-intuitive to have an app that is useless until linked with another app, that you have to find first, install, and then link.

- It's just plain stupid to expect me to waste screens of real-estate to install apps just so they will show up in the passbook app.

- Even if I did this, it's not clear at all what happens next or how to "link" the two since the "linking" is invisible and behind the scenes.

The UI will be refined. I agree that having to download an App first and then wander through their UI to get linked to Passport is kludgy at best. It seems like interested parties should list their stores/services within Passbook so I can select them from there.

That said, I took the time to download the Starbucks App and then linked my gold card to Passbook and immediately set off for my high tech caffeinated adventure. As I approached the Starbucks, their logo appeared on my lock screen. All I had to do was unlock my phone and wave it in front of their laser scanner to pay for my drink + sammy. Unlike my card, I knew my balance beforehand and it updated a few minutes after my purchase.

I'd say that was pretty nifty. The process of discovery will be refined. It was worth the effort to install and link, but Gazoobee has a point about wanting individual apps taking up precious space on our devices. An in-App list would be fine and if I wanted additional features, then I could opt to install the additional App specific to the product/service.

Coupons?? Saving ten cents?? You might want to do a little research as to what Apple's Passbook offers.

It's not for coupon clippers nor is it for people seeking 'bargains or hot deals' its very much the very beginning of an e-wallet ... Starting off with organizing your travel boarding passes, movie and sporting event tickets and 'cash cards' for places like Starbucks where people often pay from 'refillable credit cards' .

This will likely expand greatly over the next year.

I for one would like to see a fast food Passbook app... I can prepare a brand new order or use a 'bookmarked meal' and simply walk up to the cashier and scan the on screen code, imagine never again ordering a 'double hold the cheese' and get home only to find it has a slice of melted cheese sitting right on top AND if you do still get a wrong order you can know for certain that the order builder screwed up.

Also, I have been thinking about it the last few days, and I believe the combination of Passbook, Square Wallet, and Paypal Here spell the end of NFC, unless Apple does put it into the next iPhone. While security needs to be worked out with Square and Paypal (how can we be sure the cashier is charging the correct person?), why would anyone use an NFC enabled phone when you can pay without physically pulling out your wallet OR phone? I have been reading up on Paypal and Square's method and I'm pretty damn impressed.

All I'm going to say (and I know I've said it before, sorry), is that I just don't "get" Passbook at all. I'm a smarter than average person and I work in tech and while I have read the explanations and do know how it's supposed to work more or less, I still don't "get it" in a visceral way. If I don't "get it" (to the point of actually being able to effectively use it in my daily life), then tens of thousands of others don't either.

- It's counter-intuitive to have an app that is useless until linked with another app, that you have to find first, install, and then link.

- It's just plain stupid to expect me to waste screens of real-estate to install apps just so they will show up in the passbook app.

- Even if I did this, it's not clear at all what happens next or how to "link" the two since the "linking" is invisible and behind the scenes.

- The kind of fools who salivate over a ten cent bargain are not generally the same people who buy expensive high-end smart phones.

Not everyone is comfortable with hundreds of apps on their phone. Many people, like me, only install a few things that they actually need/want. I'm not going to install an app for every bargain bin in my neighbourhood just so I *might* get a crappy coupon one day.

Until the day that some actual human in an actual store offers me a coupon that can be saved on my iPhone and actually tells me how to do it or does it for me, Passbook just isn't going to happen for me. I suspect that the vast majority of iPhone users are in the same boat.

It's just one of those useless new apps that sits on your device that you know *might* be useful someday but for the time being is just taking up space. So you put it in that folder that everyone has on the last screen that contains all the apps that Apple's marketing department forces on us, that you can't get rid of but that don't actually do anything.

I totally get where you are coming from, it's the same for me with Maps and the yelp integration etc. I don't want a flood of apps taking up space.

As an idea passbook is brilliant, I just wish Apple had worked out a way for people to integrate it without loads of apps that I really do not want clogging up my iPhone.

All I'm going to say (and I know I've said it before, sorry), is that I just don't "get" Passbook at all. I'm a smarter than average person and I work in tech and while I have read the explanations and do know how it's supposed to work more or less, I still don't "get it" in a visceral way. If I don't "get it" (to the point of actually being able to effectively use it in my daily life), then tens of thousands of others don't either.
- It's counter-intuitive to have an app that is useless until linked with another app, that you have to find first, install, and then link.
- It's just plain stupid to expect me to waste screens of real-estate to install apps just so they will show up in the passbook app.
- Even if I did this, it's not clear at all what happens next or how to "link" the two since the "linking" is invisible and behind the scenes.
- The kind of fools who salivate over a ten cent bargain are not generally the same people who buy expensive high-end smart phones.
Not everyone is comfortable with hundreds of apps on their phone. Many people, like me, only install a few things that they actually need/want. I'm not going to install an app for every bargain bin in my neighbourhood just so I *might* get a crappy coupon one day.
Until the day that some actual human in an actual store offers me a coupon that can be saved on my iPhone and actually tells me how to do it or does it for me, Passbook just isn't going to happen for me. I suspect that the vast majority of iPhone users are in the same boat.
It's just one of those useless new apps that sits on your device that you know *might* be useful someday but for the time being is just taking up space. So you put it in that folder that everyone has on the last screen that contains all the apps that Apple's marketing department forces on us, that you can't get rid of but that don't actually do anything.

As you say, 10's of thousands won't get it, but tens of millions will. As for extra apps, right now, they are needed for much of this, but it's very possible that, in the future, they won't be.

I understand that for something like Starbucks, where you actually pay for the product, in Passbook, you need an app in order to easily link to their site to put a payment into the app for Passbook. I've already used this, and it works very well.

But just remember that this is the first iteration of the system. It's very possible that Apple is working on something more transparent. The talk about Apple using your iTunes account makes sense, as it's linked to a credit card already, and there are over 450 million people with active iTunes accounts.

This makes much more sense than NFC. Even Samsung doesn't think that NFC is a good solution.

All I'm going to say (and I know I've said it before, sorry), is that I just don't "get" Passbook at all. I'm a smarter than average person and I work in tech and while I have read the explanations and do know how it's supposed to work more or less, I still don't "get it" in a visceral way. If I don't "get it" (to the point of actually being able to effectively use it in my daily life), then tens of thousands of others don't either.

- It's counter-intuitive to have an app that is useless until linked with another app, that you have to find first, install, and then link.

- It's just plain stupid to expect me to waste screens of real-estate to install apps just so they will show up in the passbook app.

- Even if I did this, it's not clear at all what happens next or how to "link" the two since the "linking" is invisible and behind the scenes.

- The kind of fools who salivate over a ten cent bargain are not generally the same people who buy expensive high-end smart phones.

Not everyone is comfortable with hundreds of apps on their phone. Many people, like me, only install a few things that they actually need/want. I'm not going to install an app for every bargain bin in my neighbourhood just so I *might* get a crappy coupon one day.

Until the day that some actual human in an actual store offers me a coupon that can be saved on my iPhone and actually tells me how to do it or does it for me, Passbook just isn't going to happen for me. I suspect that the vast majority of iPhone users are in the same boat.

It's just one of those useless new apps that sits on your device that you know *might* be useful someday but for the time being is just taking up space. So you put it in that folder that everyone has on the last screen that contains all the apps that Apple's marketing department forces on us, that you can't get rid of but that don't actually do anything.

The actual problem is that you don't really care to understand how it really works, so you have made a bunch of false statements about Passbook and then called it "stupid" even though almost every one of your ill-informed points was wrong. All of your rhetoric is steeped statements trying to make other people feel foolish like, "The kind of fools who salivate over a ten cent bargain" and "It's just plain stupid to expect me to waste screens of real-estate to install apps" and also trying to make others feel out of touch by saying things like, "the vast majority of iPhone users are in the same boat" like everyone agrees with you even though (based on the article above) they don't.

So, you do not have to install other apps, as a matter of fact passbook is doing exactly what you want, cutting down on app "Clutter" by having a universal app to consolidate functionality. You can add Passbook codes from the web right here for free (with no app needed): http://www.passsource.com Go to it on an iOS device and you can just add them to your passbook right from the web. When you buy tickets online, sites are beginning to support "add them to your passbook" no other app required. If you do it from your computer, you can email the file to yourself and add it.

Now, lots of apps are adding passbook functionality within their apps so if you do use it (like Fandango to buy movie tickets) you can add them to passbook. Wouldn't be "stupid" for them not too support it within their apps?

Remember what it said, it's only 12% of e-ticket buyers (and only for these four teams). I guess not that many people are even getting e-tickets at this point?

It requires actual work to get an e-ticket, and then you must print it out. This is still a new concept to most people. By eliminating the printing step it will be made much easier.

These things take time. Smartphones have been out for more than 13 years, and it's only now that their use is approaching 50%, and that's only in richer countries. It took the iPhone to bring the idea of a smartphone to the general populace. Without that, use might still be stuck in the 10% range here, and less in other places.

How many of the MBL e-ticket buyers even have an iPhone, and how many of them are really aware of this feature? How many MBL fans have an iPhone? What percentage of MBL iPhone users are buying e-tickets, and what percentage of those are using Passport?

I think those are more useful statistics.

So Passbook is very new. It needs to be out for at least a year before we can determine where it's going, and how successful if will be. A few weeks tells us little, unless adoption rises very quickly.

Coupons?? Saving ten cents?? You might want to do a little research as to what Apple's Passbook offers.

It's not for coupon clippers nor is it for people seeking 'bargains or hot deals' its very much the very beginning of an e-wallet ... Starting off with organizing your travel boarding passes, movie and sporting event tickets and 'cash cards' for places like Starbucks where people often pay from 'refillable credit cards' .

This will likely expand greatly over the next year.

I for one would like to see a fast food Passbook app... I can prepare a brand new order or use a 'bookmarked meal' and simply walk up to the cashier and scan the on screen code, imagine never again ordering a 'double hold the cheese' and get home only to find it has a slice of melted cheese sitting right on top AND if you do still get a wrong order you can know for certain that the order builder screwed up.

If they could have it for the drive-thru, that would be convenient. Those transactions are quite error-prone the way they are done now.